Iran Guard's Soldier Killed In Shootout With 'Anti-Revolutionaries'

Iranian Kurdish Peshmerga, members of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-Iran), take part in routine military exercise in Koya, 100 kms east of Irbil, October 22, 2017

A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in a shootout on April 24 in the Kurdistan province, Mehr news agency reported.

Iran’s military often clashes with dissident Kurds in the west and northwest of the country. Several Kurdish armed groups, opposed to the Islamic Republic or advocating outright secession for Kurdish-populated areas, have sanctuaries in neighboring Iraq.

In the latest incident, Mehr said “anti-revolutionary troublemakers” opened fire in a place close to the town of Kamiaran in Kurdistan.

Iran’s officials and government-controlled media label all opponents of the Islamic Republic “anti-revolutionaries” and accuse them of collaboration with “enemies”.

In February, Iran’s intelligence ministry announced the arrest of 13 “elements” in Kurdistan and claimed they were linked to the Islamic State group.

Some in Iranian Kurdistan claim that close to 100 Kurdish dissidents are on death row. In September 2018 Iran executed three young Kurds accused of armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic.

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